Incredibly misleading asteroid news articles

[cubinator]

https://www.foxnews.com/science/football-field-sized-asteroid-earth.amp

News articles about asteroid close passes are always over-the-top about collision potential, but this one struck me as particularly offensive. The article's title: 

"Football field-sized asteroid could hit Earth this year"

(With a photo of Ryugu, a 1.0 km asteroid)

The article title altered to accurately reflect the circumstances which are detailed within the article:

164 ft asteroid to pass over 4.2 million miles from Earth - probability of collision 1 in 7,000

I read the article knowing full well it would be a bit overblown, but I wanted to check if said space rock would at least be visible to my telescope-posessing self. No, it's going to be a full 17 lunar distances away, and it's only 50 m wide. Doubtful it'll be bright enough for me.

It's not even as long as a football field as the article implies - it's a bit wider than the short width, maybe, but would span only half of the distance from endzone to endzone. Not to mention the extremely misleading intent of the article to make the reader think there is a notable chance of a collision. ESA estimates with a certainty of 99.9% that the asteroid will pass over 4.2 million miles from us. The chance of an actual collision is about 1/7000. But there is always a chance, so that is what news writers fixate on.

With articles this bad today, grocery stores will no doubt be running out of stock with people preparing for the apocalypse when Apophis scoots harmlessly by in ten years. Anything to shift doomsday attention from our own carbon catastrophe, I suppose.  

Perhaps these articles could get the clicks they so desperately clamor for while maintaining authenticity in asteroid close pass articles in this way: They could brand the title of the article as the asteroid's near pass making it visible to observers on Earth, and detail in the body its apparent magnitude and what equipment is needed to see it. There are plenty of ways to make that clickable, and the article is exactly as useful to those who don't have the equipment. Even if the asteroid is mag. 20, you could say it will be "potentially visible TO YOU!" and it would be less of an exaggeration than the article I read today.

[kerbiloid]

2 hours ago, cubinator said:

It's not even as long as a football field

Spoiler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futsal#The_field

So what they told you was true, from a certain point of view.

2 hours ago, cubinator said:

Even if the asteroid is mag. 20, you could say it will be "potentially visible TO YOU!" and it would be less of an exaggeration than the article I read today.

They just omitted "... visible if you buy our telescope just for $9,999⁹⁹ (+ taxes)

[Shpaget]

For some reason my news feed always has something from Express. The titles usually look something like:

NASA asteroid SHOCK: an ASTEROID the size of a HOUSE just BARRELED past Earth at the distance of less than TEN TIMES the MOON.

Caps and all, with an image of 500-ish km asteroid impacting Earth.

Swiping it away does not help.

[kerbiloid]

5 hours ago, Shpaget said:

Swiping it away does not help.

Spoiler

 

 

[cubinator]

2 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

  Hide contents

 

 

Asteroid Redirect Initiative: "Hold my nuclear warhead."

 

[Nuke]

news seems more interested in stroking peoples confirmation bias than actually reporting facts these days. 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Shpaget said:

For some reason my news feed always has something from Express. The titles usually look something like:

NASA asteroid SHOCK: an ASTEROID the size of a HOUSE just BARRELED past Earth at the distance of less than TEN TIMES the MOON.

Caps and all, with an image of 500-ish km asteroid impacting Earth.

Swiping it away does not help.

Oh, yeah, The Daily Express is absolutely disgusting. Swiping it away really does not help at all. I sincerely hope these guys' low quality media business fails at some point, preferably soon.

It's always something about ALIENS, or ASTEROID, or SCIENTISTS ARE IN SHOCK. It later turns out that it's a 10cm wide asteroid making a 90 trillion mile pass from Earth. Despicable.

 

Spoiler

Aperture Science SILENCE BROKEN: KSP Forums are IN SHOCK as Aperture Science DECLARES WAR on MEDIA outlets

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Guest

[Shpaget]

43 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

It's always something about ALIENS, or ASTEROID, or SCIENTISTS ARE IN SHOCK.

During the Oumuamua hype it literally was all three at the same time.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Shpaget said:

During the Oumuamua hype it literally was all three at the same time.

Oumuaumuameuahamehameha was basically jesus coming back in the eyes of Express

 

 

Speaking of Express, I literally just got a headline in my feed (google doesn't care that I swipe it away at the first chance to - accidentally swipe one interesting article though and the subject is gone, forever):

Quote

Earth EXODUS: Plan to change Earth's ORBIT to escape dying Sun

Now why they CAPITALIZED "orbit" instead of "DYING SUN" is beyond me, given that a dying star is usually more worrying the orbit itself (semantics).

Still, it unfortunately works. Your average layman might be led to think the sun's dying right now and they didn't hear about it, only to click and only find out it'll happen in about a gazillion years when he's done reading through 95% of the article. Or worse, not even figure that out and go around spreading it.

 

As to not infringe any forum rules, I'd like to phrase it such as that I wish for Express to deliberately acquire generally undesirable characteristics (specially financial ones, however not excluding others) as to achieve a point where there is no other option other to abandon ship, leaving a permanent mark on its accomplices.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Guest

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

5 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

why they CAPITALIZED "orbit"

it's a trademark. Maybe it was a commercial of chewing gum.

Spoiler

While "Dying Sun" is rather strange name for a gum.

9 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

given that a dying star is usually more worrying the orbit itself (semantics).

The Sun will die transform 6 billion years later, while teeth are already needed right now. Of course, the chewing gum is more worrying.

11 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

Your average layman might be led to think the sun's dying right now

So, he should hurry up and right now make a deposit in their bank.

11 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

it'll happen in about a gazillion years when he's done reading through 95% of the article

So, his deposit will have enough time to grow enormously if he has done this.

13 minutes ago, Aperture Science said:

Or worse, not even figure that out and go around spreading it.

Of course, he will do this. Otherwise where should the bank take money to pay him the interest. The more people - the more money.

 

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, kerbiloid shamelessly said:

regular kerbiloidposting

here's your free +like

Edited June 8, 2019 by Guest

[DDE]

14 hours ago, Shpaget said:

Caps and all

According to Tim Poole, this helps a lot with Google algorithms.

But then Beanie Man himself has been quite into Apophis and planetary defense.

[Shpaget]

22 minutes ago, DDE said:

this helps a lot with Google algorithms.

I don't doubt that. I'm not questioning their SEO, I'm certain it's top notch. I just find it *pick three from this list below*

abhorrent
atrocious
awful
contemptible
despicable
disgusting
heinous
horrible
horrid
odious
reprehensible
repugnant
repulsive
revolting
terrible
vile
wretched
bad
base
beastly
cursed
foul
grim
grody
gross
hairy
hateful
hellish
loathsome
lousy
nauseating
obnoxious
offensive
repellent
rotten
sleazy
stinking

Spoiler

I think "grody" is my favorite word of the day.